Never Give Up
by juana24
Summary: In a world where everything has changed, the GAang much work together to make it better. Through all of this, the group will face hardship, loss, love, and betrayal. Takes place during Sozin's Comet.
1. Chapter 1

Never Give Up

**Author's Note: This is my first fanfiction in nearly two years! I remember the old ones being really crappy, so hopefully this is one slightly better than before. Enjoy!**

Blue and red.

These were them only words Katara could think of to describe the massive battle between the two Fire Nation siblings. Upon arriving to the palace, and thus interrupting Azula's coronation, Zuko challenged his sister to an Agni Kai for the throne. Katara had initially been weary of Zuko's chances alone against his sister, but he had reassured her that something was different about Azula and that he would be okay. Based on what was currently happening on the battlefield, Katara still couldn't see the 'difference' in the Fire Nation princess, as she continued to firebend with such finesse and power; however, Zuko also seemed to have elevated his skills (most likely due to the comet) as he quickly matched each fireball Azula threw at him. Katara held her breath as Zuko continued to seem to have control over Azula, and was patiently waiting for his opening.

"What, no lightning today? Afraid I'll redirect it?" Zuko taunted at his sister as he continually blocked each shot Azula gave him effortlessly, while she appeared to be tiring out.

Her face in a sneer, Azula replied, "Oh, I'll show you lightning!". She had her body in position, moving the lightning from hand to hand while Zuko got in his stance, fully prepared for the lightning attack.

Just as Azula was to aim at her brother, her eyes locked with Katara. For Katara, it felt like time had stopped as she immediately realized Azula's new plan and watched as the princess's lips formed a smirk and her crazed eyes had looks of determination.

Katara watched in horror as the streaks of white and blue came her way, too stunned to move away in time. She closed her eyes in defeat, waiting for the lightning to come at her heart and her short life to end. When the moment where she was supposed to be falling to her death didn't come, she flashed her eyes open, with a new horrible nightmare unfolding as she watched Zuko (the boy, no man, who fought for her acceptance and later friendship, in the meantime saving her life and surprising her countless times) make a thud noise to the ground as his body violently shakes in reaction to the lightning.

Despite her despair and fear of Azula's attack, Katara ran forward to the fallen prince, opening her water skin to begin healing the prince. Unfortunately for her, Azula saw her and began throwing fire balls at her.

"Zuzu, you don't look so good!" Azula sneered as she continually shot at Katara, leaving the waterbender out of breath and in need of a plan. Nearly out of water and forced to hide behind a pillar, she goes in a panic; luck seemed to be on her side as she sees the sewage and pulls the water towards her.

"Come out, you filthy peasant!" Azula screams as she finally corners Katara, almost hitting the girl with lightning when the waterbender pulls all the sewage water at her hands, encircling both the princess and herself in ice. As Azula gawked at her, still in shock from being tricked, but immediately attempts to heat her body up to melt the ice, becoming successful. Both girls gasp for air, then begin going at it again, Azula on offense and Katara in constant need to defend herself.

_'I just lost my chance. I need to leave before she kills me.' _Katara thought to herself as her fight began getting closer to Zuko frail body, which to continued to convulse every few seconds from the aftershock of the lightning. Thinking of a new plan, she waited for the right moment to corner the princess and freeze the princess to the wall, giving her enough time to call Appa and escape with Zuko. As Azula began unfreezing the large block of water around her, Apa quickly reappeared at Katara's side, helping her pull Zuko's body onto the saddle. Before Azula fully got herself out of the case of ice, Katara called for Appa to leave and the two teenagers flew away from the palace, unsure of where to go or what the future held for them.

Katara turned to Zuko, pulling him into her lap as she ripped off his shirt and began healing the spot where the lightning was hit. For some reason, the lightning would _not_ heal and continued to gush out with blood. To her horror, his whole body seemed to have looked paler than usual and felt ice cold rather than his usual warm hand. She pushed on his chest and blew breaths in his mouth, feeling for his pulse.

There wasn't one.

"NO! Zuko! You can't just die on me, you stupid jerkbender! You promised me no one would get hurt!" she sobbed as she pulled his cold body to hers.

Although she was the last to forgive the prince and constantly fought with him, he had finally become one of her closest friends, someone she was eager to care for and protect.

_'You finally showed me you could be there for me, and now you're just leaving me. I swear to you, Zuko, I refuse to have to tell the others you're dead.' _she thought to herself with new determination, putting his body down and continually trying to heal him all over.

_'Maybe if I...I swore to myself I would never do this again, but if it means your life then...' _Katara wordlessly began concentrating on feeling for his blood within his body.

Using her bending, she started to manipulate his blood and heart to pump. It felt like hours before suddenly she heard a sharp intake of breath, and she fell to the side in exhaustion, feeling the power if blackness overtaking her.

"Zuko...?" was the last word she moaned as unconsciousness took her.

**A/N: Please review for any suggestions or comments!**


	2. Chapter 2: Finding What Is Lost

**Author's Note: Because I got a couple of reviews (hopefully more!), I decided to continue this story. Here is the second chapter. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Two: Finding What Is Lost**

Opening her eyes, Katara's vision seemed hazy from her tears as she woke up to the sound of Appa groaning. Upon doing so, she managed to see Zuko staring out at the rising sun, his body still appearing weak, but with much more color and liveliness than the previous night. Katara sighed in relief as she moved over to the firebender to greet him.

"Zuko, thank the spirits you're okay!" she exclaimed as she surprised him and pulled him in a tight embrace, leaving him moaning in pain.

His head in the crook of her neck, he replied hoarsely, " Thank you, Katara for everything. I feel terrible for leaving you like that with no help and-"

Katara interrupted, letting go of him to look straight into his golden eyes. "Sshh...it's okay now, as long as you're okay. You nearly gave me a heart attack! Your heart stopped and I just couldn't let you die..." she started, giving him a slight shove as she began to cry for him yet again.  
"Don't ever do that again to me, Zuko. I could never live with myself knowing...I almost couldn't save you!" she wailed, and they then switched roles as he took her in his arms to comfort her.

Katara, suddenly laughing at how their roles reversed and how someone else was comforting _her_, moved Zuko's hands away as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs along her cheeks.

She then continued her rambling. "All that aside, I think that I should be the one thanking you. I wouldn't be standing here either if you had not done what you did..."

"I swear to you, Katara, I will never put you in that situation again. However, I can't promise you I wouldn't do that all over again even if I could redo that moment again." he said, his eyes full of sincerity and something else she couldn't quite place.

Shocked by his words, she looked away and tried to change the subject.

"So...now that we basically just kind of lost control of the throne, what are we going to do?"

"Well, we for sure need to go to the Earth Kingdom to see what happened with Aang and Uncle." he looked down dejectedly. Now that he was all better and away from his sister, he couldn't help but feel humiliated and frustrated with himself for not being able to secure his crown and defeat his sister.

Seeing his internal conflict and anger towards himself, Katara took his hand and squeezed it.

"Hey, just because you didn't beat your sister today doesn't mean our plan truly failed. As long as Aang and your uncle do fine we will all be okay. And I know that we will succeed next time, okay?" she said, giving him a reassuring look and his hand another squeeze.

Sighing, Zuko let go of her hand and moved toward the front of the saddle, directing Appa to the right path as he looked at the map they had with them.

Katara let out a sigh of her own. _'I hope everything is okay over there...' _

The two teenagers sat in silence as they traveled to Ba Sing Se.

-

**Ba Sing Se **

Iroh looked up into the sky as the comet began to fade away. He had finally conquered the city he had been trying to do so, so long ago.

_'I wonder how my nephew is doing...' _he thought as he began walking back to the campsite, or as King Bumi put it, "Old People Camp". For some reason, the good feeling he had earlier had seemed to fade away and he started to feel dreary about everything.

The Avatar, blind Earthbender, Kyoshi Warrior, and Water Tribe boy all returned from their fight against the Fire Lord, in which they were successful and the Avatar was able to somehow (unbelievably in his opinion) take away his younger brother's bending. Word had yet to come about whether his nephew was victorious himself and defeated his sister.

_'Only time will tell...' _Iroh thought to himself, before entering his tent to retire for the night.

-

**Fire Nation Palace**

"Princess Azula, are you ready for your coronation? What course of action do you want us to pursue?" asked one frightened Dai Li agent to he princess as they helped heal her of the injuries she sustained during the supposed Agni Kai she and her brother fought in. According to the princess, the prince had barely escaped, thus leaving her as victor. Even with this joyous occasion, the princess looked to be in a foul mood and continued to throw servants around.

"Didn't you hear me before? Get the fire sages ready this instant and tell the rest of the Dai Li to get ready to go back to Ba Sing Se! In case ny father has fallen, I will need to maintain order! As the new commander of the Dai Li, I thought you'd be up to speed with everything! Now, get out of my sight!" the Crown Princess barked as she continued to struggle fixing her crown.

"Yes princess." he looked down and walked away in fear.

In a crazy stupor, the princess began pulling at her hair and talking to herself as she looked into the broken mirror.

"How could I have let my stupid, imbecile of a traitorous brother get away? I swear to you, dear brother, I will capture and kill you and your precious _Water peasant _if its the last thing I do!" she screamed, throwing the crown at the mirror, leaving more cracks and shattered glass on the floor as she began to ball her eyes out in despair.

-

Appa had started to groan in exhaustion, so Zuko and Katara agreed to stop for rest at a nearby town. It would take them a couple more days to reach Ba Sing Se, so they decided to get some more supplies and set up camp for the night.

Settling in the town, the teenagers disguised themselves as a young couple who moved around to make ends meet. With the little money they had, Katara was able to bargain with the stall keeper to give them fresh supplies, while Zuko returned to Appa began starting a fire and building shelter in the woods, which laid on the outskirts of the residential area.

"Hey Zuko, you okay?" Katara asked the prince (as she had noticed he still seemed to be down and kept to himself) as she packed the supplies she has bought and started to cook supper.

She received no reply as he continued to ignore her and space out.

"Okay, I get that you're freaking out but you don't have to ignore me!" she yelled at him, angry that he continued to act as if she wasn't there. She knew that she was the last person he'd want to spill his deepest secrets to, but she had hoped he would be considerate being that they has grown to be somewhat friends, especially considering what they went through together in the past 24 hours.

"Shh...I hear something nearby. Don't yell, I'm trying to listen." he whispered back, leaving her to let out a huff and try to hear along.

They could make out the sound of some sort of group of people, most likely soldiers, in which they their bodies stilled and trembled at. Worried they would get discovered, they made sure to blow out the campfire and behind one of the many forest trees, while urging Appa to fly away for a while.

As the band of men approached their hiding spot, the two benders were able to hear their whole conversation.

"I heard that the little Fire Nation prince and princess fought an Agni Kai for the throne. That traitorous twit ended up losing to the girl and may have died!" one soldier exclaimed to another, both laughing. Hearing this, Zuko knelt down in anguish and Katara immediately intertwined their hands in assurance.

The soldier added, "I hear the little princess has give insane! Threatening to banish everyone in the palace and throwing things everywhere. Apparently, Fire Lord Ozai had been defeated by the Avatar, and now she's sent the Dai Li to come after him and capture him. Poor sap won't know what's coming!" and they began laughing in a drunken fit, earning a scolding from their leader.

Both teenagers looked up at each other in despair, thinking the same thing.

_'Oh no! Aang!' _

**A/N: Keep on reviewing!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: I've been trying to make longer, more elaborate chapters (with no errors! It kills me when I find them. :( ) so I may take longer to update. It also won't help that school will be starting soon (yuck!). Anyways, I hope you like what's been happening so far, as I was trying to do something new. Here's the next chapter! This is almost like a filler chapter, but has a little bit of Zutara action and some perspective from the rest of the Gaang, so hopefully you enjoy it. :)**

**Chapter Three: The Search For The Avatar**

Upon hearing of Azula's supposed plan of capturing Aang, as soon as they were certain they were safe, Katara and Zuko looked at their map. They needed to find a safer, quicker route to Ba Sing Se; the only advantage they realized they had was that they knew exactly where the rest of the Gaang would be. They could only hope that they would be hidden enough to not be easily found.

Although it was never publicly acknowledged, it was known by all of their group, _family_, that Katara was basically the surrogate mother of them all, the one to feed them, make sure they're clean, and nag over every little thing. Even though her overprotectiveness became overbearing at times, they all deeply appreciated her compassion and care for them. Once Zuko came along, he too grew into their family dynamic, becoming almost a father role to the others. While Sokka was initially the "ideas guy" and sole decision maker on certain plans, he'd always look to Zuko for approval and advice. The firebender was known to be awkward and often kept to himself; there were, however, times when he'd subtly show affection and care for his pupil, Aang, or go out of his way to do something for Toph, earning him a punch in the arm for thanks (he'd initially wince at the pain, but gave the Earthbender a rare smile, only to be noticed by Katara during the times she held judgement against him). So, the moment they heard their "children" were in danger, they each had an expression of determination on their faces, as if lions, acting on willpower in order to protect their cubs.

And now all they could do now was wait.

Tossing and turning in their sleeping bags, both struggled to fall asleep as they felt helpless for not being able to depart immediately. Although they wanted to leave that instant they heard of trouble, the teenagers agreed to stay until the next morning, as the bison was still in need of rest. They had eaten their supper in silence, and grudgingly went to bed, anxious for the next day to come.

Sighing, Katara looked over at Zuko, who's back was facing her as she heard him groan in frustration.

"Zuko, are you awake?"

Hearing her voice, Zuko shifted his body towards the waterbender, answering in a raspy, hoarse tone. "Yeah, can't fall asleep. You too?"

"Yup. Too anxious to sleep. I hear your groaning and wincing. Are you still feeling pain?"

Cursing at himself for being less subtle about his pain, Zuko knew he wouldn't get out of her worrying about him, so he tried to downplay it. "No, I'm fine. It's just a little sore on my chest, you don't have to-"

Katara interrupted in a stern voice, not taking no for an answer. "Bring your sleeping bag closer so I can check it out. No buts, its time for another healing session."

Sighing in defeat, Zuko reluctantly got up to pull his sleeping bag closer to the blue-eyed girl and sat on top of it, waiting for further instruction.

"Take off your shirt." Katara ordered, suddenly turning red after realizing what she said and seeing Zuko himself become flush.

"Umm, I won't be able to ease the pain on Your chest if you don't..." she adds, trying to shake off her momentary nervousness.

Still slightly pink, Zuko shrugged and pulled off his shirt, revealing his toned physique as he laid himself down on the mat. Katara couldnt help but stare at how muscular the firebender had become, and started to feel warm again. Certainly she had known he was handsome, being that she would constantly catch Suki and many other girls they'd encounter oogle at him and silently gush about him. The scar on his perfect fair skin only gave him a sense of mystery, making him even more good looking. Only now had she realized _how attractive _he really was to her.

Clearing her throat to end the awkward silence, she called out for water from her waterskin, maneuvering the water over his chest as she began to work. Katara focused all her energy on healing him to distract her from _other things_. Caught up in the motions, she would occasionally hear Zuko wheeze and have a coughing fit. Normally, she would have immediately stopped her doings and ask if he was okay; today, however, she chose to ignore his groans.

_'He will get better if I just continue doing what I am doing'. _she told herself as she noticed the gash on his chest begin to transform into a soft scar.

"You're going to have another scar" she sighed, her feelings of guilt returning.

Recognizing her self loathing and seeing her avoiding his face, Zuko frowned.

"It's alright, Katara. I think I am used of them. I've got to say, this one is the one I'm most proud of." he insisted, smiling at her ruefully.

Taking a chance, the waterbender snuck a glance at his face, and returned his smile with a small one of her own.

Realizing she was done healing, she put her water back and got up, dusting her garment off. She peered down at him with a gleaming gaze, her blue eyes boring into his gold.

"Thanks again. For everything. I think I am going to go take a walk, so good night."

She then began to walk away, but suddenly felt a warm hand grab her wrist.

"You can't expect me to just sleep while you're gone. I can't sleep without _knowing you're okay._"

About to protest, she hesitated and took his hand instead.

"Come with me, then..."

**Ba Sing Se**  
Sokka stared at moonlit sky as he and Suki laid together in the grass, just outside the outskirts of their camp site.

"Do you think that Katara and Zuko are okay?"

Suki glanced at the Water Tribe boy, and shrugged.

"I am sure they are doing great. They are two of the most powerful genders, Sokka, I am sure they can handle that psychotic bitch."

"I don't know if it is just me being a protective brother, but it doesn't feel right." Sokka's forehead creased in worry.

The couple sighed and continued to peer at the sky. To reassure her boyfriend, the Kyoshi warrior took the boy's hand, kissed it, and squeezed his hand.

Just as Sokka was going to smile at her in appreciation, the couple nearly jumped as they heard explosions coming from near camp.

"Oh no!"

Both exclaimed as they quickly stood up and ran back to the others. Nearing camp, they could make out Fire Nation airships and Dai Li agents attacking the White Lotus members. At the center of it all, Aang and Iroh were working together to fight off the more experienced Dai Li agents, who seemed to have been attempting to capture Aang.

Before they could think, Dai Li agents began attacking them, and the couple were then forced to join the fight.

**A/N: Reviews would be great! :)**


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